Leadership Trends That Move Women Forward In 2024

Each year brings another phase of evolution in the world of work. A look ahead at what leaders of organizations can expect in 2024 reveals several prominent business trends that can potentially boost women’s progress in equal opportunity and belonging like never before. Becoming aware of these approaching trends can help women think through how they might apply any of them to their ambitions and needs. Women can prepare to leverage the following workplace trends to gain a solid footing in the organizations they serve and their long-term career ambitions. 

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) A Major Focus

DEI efforts will continue to gain attention from senior executives who will contribute abundant resources to advancing their DEI goals. Companies want higher ESG ratings, which measure a firm’s environmental, social, and governance practices. Higher ESG ratings can attract more investors and elevate companies’ stock value. Companies that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion attract socially responsible investors, which can increase investment and improve ESG ratings.

Additionally, women will see leaders undertake more DEI initiatives and can take advantage of the opportunities made available exclusively to them as a marginalized group. Initiatives such as mentorship programs, proactive career pathing, coaching, and leadership development are increasingly available to guide women toward fulfilling and equitable work.

Untap Your Organization’s DEIB: DEIB checklist

Remote Work & Flexibility

Remote work and flexibility continue encompassing company workforce strategy and fuel women’s progress. Women working remotely encounter fewer microaggressions, which can enhance their feeling of safety and belonging on their teams. According to Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends report, safety and belonging are two factors that have been shown to elevate job performance by as much as 65%. The flexibility remote work offers helps women get work done and balance family and personal needs. Remote work creates a level of privacy around how workers spend their time, which lowers instances where women’s needs may single them out.

Reduced Boundaries

The 2024 workplace is full of open knowledge exchange and risky innovation. Organizations face converging challenges that include competition for top talent and economic uncertainty. Leaders are looking for big ideas that can positively shape their firm’s future and welcome collaborative input from every rank. Women can contribute ideas and insights in an increasingly equal playing field.

In pursuit of unique innovation, companies are opening lines of communication and building wider nets to collect diverse input and perspectives. Women have more opportunities than ever to provide unique solutions.

Transparency About Salaries

The year ahead includes a break with tradition as worker salary discussions go from tight-lipped to open-knowledge. Equal pay initiatives helped initiate the change. Still, other factors, such as competition for talent and worker bargaining power, have contributed to large groups of workers sharing compensation details. More information about pay helps women assign worth to their roles rather than accepting an inequitable valuation. Women can now better negotiate fair and competitive pay for their current or potential job opportunities.

Create a thriving and inclusive workplace culture: Build Transparency In The Workplace

Skilled Talent Is A Must With AI

Organizations are increasingly adopting AI technologies to streamline processes and increase productivity. AI begins another pivotal age in economic history that impacts companies’ operations. Women can make the most of the shift by upskilling and becoming proficient in AI-related support competencies. Embracing the AI trend with a voracious willingness to learn can strategically position women with technical skills and a mental grasp of technological advances in a particular niche. AI can fast-track women to more responsibility, influence, and take-home pay. 

Workplace Well-being

Company leaders are connecting mental wellness with productivity and revenue in 2024. They’re putting resources toward fighting burnout among workers and making mental health part of an ongoing conversation. That’s good news for women who suffered more burnout, at 33%, in 2023 than their male counterparts, who suffered at 25%. Women can find support through their employers to reduce fatigue and overwhelm and promote healthy work and life habits. 

Look back on the 2023 landscape with our Women In The Workplace webinar replay to help you better prepare for 2024.

The year ahead offers several ways that women can leverage leadership and workplace trends. Organizations’ challenges and needs in 2024 can be instrumental in advancing long-standing women’s interests. The year ahead offers several ways that women can leverage leadership and workplace trends. Female workers can familiarize themselves with upcoming environmental shifts and prepare to capitalize on them through full-throttle engagement. 2024 could mean more women in leadership positions with equal pay and a supportive community around them.